Bridge, intersection at the end of Charoen Krung Road, Sam Yot was the name of the Bangkok outer city gate in the early Rattanakosin period. King Rama I (1782-1809) constructed this gate together with city walls and other city gates around the outer area of the capital.
At that time, the Sam Yot gate was the only city gate made of wood. It was built straddling a small road and was given the name 'Phruekthimat' gate by the King.
Later, in the reign of King Rama III, this city gate with one pinnacle on top was in poor condition. The King ordered the construction of a new cement gate with a war tower on top to defend the capital against attacks from enemies. King Mongkut (Rama IV) ordered the construction of Charoen Krung Road passing through this gate.
More and more vehicles ran on this road, and when they arrived at the Phruekthimat gate, they had to stop because the gate was too narrow to pass through. King Chulalongkorn (Rama V)
then changed the single gate to three gates connecting to one another. On top of each gate was an intricately designed pinnacle. Seeing that this gate was quite unlike the others, local people called it PratAam Yot, or the threepinnacled gate. The area where the gate was found was also called Sam Yot subdistrict.
The Sam Yot area during the reign of King Chulalongkorn was quite crowded, as it was the location of a gambling den, called Huai (lottery) Ko Kho, operated by Khun Banboek Burirat, or Yi Ko Hong (the forefather of the Techavanich family).
An excerpt from the book Bangkok Yesterday, written by Khun Wichitmatra, or Kanchanakphan, says, "The Huai Ko Kho house was adjacent to the palace of Prince Alangkan on Mahachai Road. This kind of lottery was also scrapped 60 years ago and the gambling den has changed so tremendously that many people today do not know where the den was; they simply hear the words 'Huai Ko Kho'."
The Huai Ko Kho gambling den was dissolved in the reign of King Vajiravudh (Rama VI), but the Sam Yot gate had been dismantled earlier, late in the reign of King Chulalongkorn. Traffic on Charoen Krung
Road began to be congested and heavy, so the King ordered the expansion of the road and the Sam Yot gate built over Charoen Krung Road was dismantled.Although the Sam Yot gate has disappeared, many people still have a vivid memory of this prominent gate. The name Sam Yot has been used for call several important sites in this area, such as Sam Yot district, Sam Yot Crime Suppression Division, and Sam Yot Radio Station.
